Portland Pickles Mascot Missing No More. Team Says Dillon Found

PORTLAND, OR — Dillon T. Pickle has been found.

The team said Thursday morning that someone dropped off the Pickles mascot costume Wednesday at the Voodoo Donuts on NW Davis Street, where the news conference was held to announce Dillon's return.

The person who dropped off the mascot wanted to remain anonymous but reported finding the costume on a TriMet bus. The team also said that the person, whom they called "a hero to the world." refused any reward, saying that he just wanted to get Dillon home.

The Pickles say that Dillon had been in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic for a series of games. The plan was to fly back on Delta, heading first to JFK in New York and then back to Portland.

Somewhere along the way, the bag containing Dillon disappeared.

By Feb. 8, Delta found the bag, let the Pickles know and said it would drop him off at the team headquarters.

Ring video from the Pickles shows the bag was dropped off at 7:15 p.m.

Another Ring video later shows the bag being stolen by a backpack-wearing man whose face is covered and is also wearing headphones.

The Dillon-napping quickly became a sensation, with the story being picked up all over the country.

In Portland, businesses were tripping over themselves to offer rewards for his safe return.

The offers included a $50 gift card from Lardo, six pickle-themed books from Powell's, pizza from Atlas pizza, multiple offers of tickets to go see the Trailblazers, a bottle of Burnside Bourbon and more.

Mascots and teams from other cities also offered rewards and/or publicized the Pickles' plight including: the Burlington Sock Puppets, the Idaho Falls Chukars, the Madison Mallards, the Las Vegas Aviators, and the Carolina Disco Turkeys.

In an unexpected twist, it turned out that Dillon was pickle-napped just as he became a father.

Adventist Hospital tweeted out a picture of a swaddled jar of pickle slices.

"Dillon's sweet babies have arrived, and his family is heartbroken he's not here with them," the hospital tweeted.

"Picklenapper, do the right thing and drop Dillon off at a police station, the Pickles porch, or our ER 24/7. No questions asked!"

The Pickles originally had to fight the perception that the whole thing was a hoax.

Many were at first skeptical of the claim that he'd been stolen — after all, it wasn't that long ago many in the media were covering how Dillon "mistakenly" tweeted a photo of his "pickle" — the police say a theft report was filed.

"Just to clarify for the 33rd time, this is not a joke. Dillon was stolen from our office," they tweeted at one point.